For me it isn't the losses. It is the way we play/lose that worries.

We are much better and have much better players than recent results show.

The next 5 weeks will tell us where we are really at: Big challenge vs Geelong where my only hope is we play to our ability for 4 quarters. Then 4 winnable games.

Even if we don't win them how we play will be the criteria.

Two bad losses but I haven't given up hope of playing finals.

Edited March 30Mar 30 by Lucifers Hero

  On 30/03/2025 at 21:41, praha said:

Even Hawthorn when they were bad were playing with structure and dare.

Eh?

when Dingley were awful to start in 2024 they were slow and circuitous in their ball movement

  On 30/03/2025 at 08:55, FearTheBeard said:

My mindset:

1. Angry with the coach

2. Playing group is not playing for the coach

3. Watching us play is horrible, boring and demoralising

4. Nothing will get better until Goodwin is sacked

5. Feels like there is not much hope with the current list who are confused and unhappy

6. The fan base has turned on the coach but there are a still a few positive [censored] who claim it will work out and it’s only round 3. These apologists that accept poor standard are the problem with our club.

   BUT

7. I will still go to games

8. Still driving to Geelong, going to Adelaide and Perth and Alice Springs

9. Not throwing away my membership because the club will still be there once the coach is sacked.

10. Will still Barack my hart out for them

Of all the Melbourne fan mindsets, this is the one that [censored] me the most.

And to be clear, I'm talking about the flaky hand wringers, not the "apologists"

  On 30/03/2025 at 21:28, Demon Dynasty said:

Also ...Guess when Brissy's losing streak ended in a Flag worthy display at the G that showed they were anything but done.

The Hawks were also coming off a long rebuild and still putting the pieces together to get off the bottom. You could also start to see a style and method in the way Mitchell was pushing them to play.

Some of the comparisons on here are just clutching at straws.

Our last 18 weeks have been nothing short of an abomination.

We have no strength in any aspect of the game and oppo teams know this. They just play their own game / methods and style knowing we'll eventually capitulate in the 2nd half. There is no fear or respect anymore from them and mediocre teams like GC are actually starting to bully us off the ball etc.

I can handle having a sub standard list. That was always bound to happen at some point and a mini rebuild or more needed.

But it's the way too many in this team put up the white flag, don't play for each other, play with almost zero care, fail to show g&d and slip into amateur footy too often that's unneceptable for mine.

Casey's list is in a similar position at the moment. Actually probably more decimated in terms of top end experienced talent. But you still see them putting their bodies on the line, staying strong over the footy, sticking tackles and maintaining a structure and method that the team attempts to play to. They run in support all day getting numbers to the contest. The attitude is still solid and they stick at it all day.

Whoever thinks our situation, and game style for that matter, resembles Hawthorn or Brisbane last year at all must be trying to cope with the fact that so far we are not good.

It is laughable to expect the Hawthorn or Brisbane outcome for us this year. Not with these borderline VFL performances the team is dishing out.

  On 30/03/2025 at 22:03, Lucifers Hero said:

For me it isn't the losses. It is the way we play/lose that worries.

We are much better and have much better players than recent results show.

The next 5 weeks will tell us where we are really at: Big challenge vs Geelong where my only hope is we play to our ability for 4 quarters. Then 4 winnable games.

Even if we don't win them how we play will be the criteria.

Two bad losses but I haven't given up hope of playing finals.

im more reminded of 2007 than being hopeful of making finals. it feels like we have fallen off an absolute cliff. 5 wins out of our last 18 games testifies to this. i honestly dont see where we are getting a win from on current form.

  On 30/03/2025 at 22:26, ElDiablo14 said:

Whoever thinks our situation, and game style for that matter, resembles Hawthorn or Brisbane last year at all must be trying to cope with the fact that so far we are not good.

It is laughable to expect the Hawthorn or Brisbane outcome for us this year. Not with these borderline VFL performances the team is dishing out.

I think a lot may be do themselves a disservice if they are only viewing our current woes in terms of the past 3 games.. In a fashion I see it as just this season's tip to a much bigger,longer(time) iceberg. What we're currently witnessing is just the gameday face to a much deeper seated malaise.

Not thinking the Demon Spirit was travelling all that well before the game......

Now.....

Meh. Every club has its Karen's, yknow.

Can you imagine the moment any club tells them to pull their heads in because the only effect they're having is to make literally everything worse? Or started cancelling memberships of people who abuse players and coaches.

I'm picturing something like a relationship breakup where the spurned partner stalks their ex and constantly harasses them to get that feeling of power over them and to 'prove' that they are the one in control.

In the end, it's that basic lack of maturity, "I am having bad feelings, so I will have a tantrum and hurt people until someone else makes the bad feelings go away".

Goodwin has only himself to blame - the list management and coaching has been ordinary.

  On 30/03/2025 at 21:26, bluey said:

Why don’t we have a CEO

No one wants to come to us

I don’t blame anyone for whatever feelings they have about the current state of the club. Although I draw the line at leaning over the race shouting abuse. Those people have clicked over to full [censored] mode.

If people don’t feel like turning up or lose interest or want to come on here and have a bit of a vent, nothing wrong with that. We can’t all be glass half full and the world would be a pretty dull place if we were.

  On 30/03/2025 at 13:49, Left Foot Snap said:

To be fair, there is no way we would burn the water.

We likely will have fumbled the pot and quickly thrown it to a team mate who didn't have time to fill it, and then missed putting it on the stove!!

Umpire would have called 'not 15' and we would have argued that the umpire wouldn't know his way around a kitchen, which leads to the pot being marched 50m to a house down the road where the young couple that own it succinctly fill the pot and boil it without issue.

[censored] I hate the Kitchen League!!!

Underrated comment! 😆😆😆

  On 30/03/2025 at 23:03, beelzebub said:

Not thinking the Demon Spirit was travelling all that well before the game......

Now.....

Even if they did "break their spirit", wtf would you say this in public, it's a losers mindset.

  On 31/03/2025 at 00:40, SFebes said:

Even if they did "break their spirit", wtf would you say this in public, it's a losers mindset.

I'm disappointed that Gawn said that they "broke our spirit" - makes us sound very weak

Max has been our one saving grace in the media over the years so even though I don’t like it, I’ll give him a pass on this occasion.

But our overall messaging and media presence has been absolutely woeful since the flag. From the president, to the CEO, to the coach, to the media team it’s been one misstep after another. Muddled, unprofessional and frankly cringeworthy. We’re odds on for our fourth straight spoon in the Media stakes.

Zero care if we are exciting to watch. Wins are all I care about, and they also make our dog less likely to hide when I crack the [censored] at some of the ineptitude on display.

This weeks' ins will help.

  On 30/03/2025 at 22:03, Lucifers Hero said:

For me it isn't the losses. It is the way we play/lose that worries.

We are much better and have much better players than recent results show.

The next 5 weeks will tell us where we are really at: Big challenge vs Geelong where my only hope is we play to our ability for 4 quarters. Then 4 winnable games.

Even if we don't win them how we play will be the criteria.

Two bad losses but I haven't given up hope of playing finals.

Agree. I am not too fussed by losses, provided we are heading towards wins.

The losses don't give me that much comfort though (aside from GWS, which in hindsight our slow ball movement was helped by rain).

We can still turn this around, and I know we are often told that the Lions were 0-3 last year, but they lost their games as follows (to the Blues by 1 point, to Freo over there by 23 - no disgrace there, to the Pies by 20 - again no disgrace), and then a bad loss to GWS in the middle by about 50 points - and they are a serious side, it happens.

Our losses have been to a bottom 4 team (argue improvement all you like but 4 teams have to sit in the bottom 4 for there to be a bottom 4 and unfortunately they will be there - along with the Eagles, Tigers and us at this stage), and Gold Coast at our home, where they do not perform well, and having not beaten us in a decade.

That's two very bad losses. To start the year, when we should be full of hope, energy and something to prove after all the love/learnings.

We can right the ship. We certainly have the personnel on the ground. But I don't think we can rely on the Lions' trajectory, as they had a far more stable on-ground performance base to work with. We have a boring, lifeless, confused, slow, gameplan, and were walloped by both teams.

These next couple of months are critical to obviously not only our year, but future years because it will determine whether Trac, Oliver, Kozzie, McVee will want to stay (or as the case may be should stay), but also to make a strong case for others to join us. It's arguable that we missed out on Houston late last year because we were a rabble. We don't want to enter that territory again because as our last bunch of decades shows, it's very hard to emerge. It's easier to stay on top, which is why the Cats do what they do. And why as a result they can attract the right people.

I’m living overseas these days, but retained my AFL membership at around $700 PA in the hope we get to another GF I’ll get a ticket and fly home for a couple of weeks.

Now reconsidering that decision because to me it feels like the 1970’s all over again and seems like we will never be back in the mix.

See how this season pans out to see if I renew AFL in 2026. But being a 40+ year mostly suffering MFC member I would sign up for a basic MFC membership.

But they need to stop serving up that carp we have been subjected to the past 2 weeks. Beat Geelong? Doubtful but FFS at least have a crack!

Edited March 31Mar 31 by Deepfreeze

  On 31/03/2025 at 02:03, samcantstandya said:

I'm disappointed that Gawn said that they "broke our spirit" - makes us sound very weak

Errrrrrr I think we might be

Will find out Friday night hoping for a complete turnaround

Edited March 31Mar 31 by Kent

I'm not sure why people get upset when supporters express their disgust at the way the team is performing. At least those people care enough to turn up and support the team.

The far bigger concern is the very significant part of our so-called fan base that will just disengage completely and not come to games, not buy memberships and so on if things continue on their current course.

The financial implications of starting the season like this are massive given that memberships won't be sold, attendances will be pitiful and we'll guarantee ourselves a diabolical fixture next year.

  On 30/03/2025 at 23:03, beelzebub said:

Not thinking the Demon Spirit was travelling all that well before the game......

Now.....

Yeah ok, if losing 3 games in a row is enough to break some players spirits then I am seriously questioning what is going on at the club.

Just found this quote also from Maxy:

"[We] probably had a few leaders looking for free kicks at different points. You are what your leaders are. If you're doing that, it can be a slippery slope," he told The Age.

Edited March 31Mar 31 by BoBo

  On 30/03/2025 at 07:48, DemonWA said:

There is a significant % of Melbourne Fans who are going hard at the club and playing group after 3 games.

It's a long season and writing off 50% of the playing list, wanting the coach sacked, and just generally potting the club so early in the season is a no win situation.

Hawks started last year slowly, unsure about their new game style. Lions were slow starters too.

I don't think we're a contender, and probably not even a finals team this year, but I see far more to gain out of supporting the team as they navigate a change in game style, rather than the constant hand wringing and sooking.

Couldn't believe the Muppet on the DeeBreif calling for Adam Simpson to be our coach before the seasons end. Similarly the amount of people wanting Viney and TMac to retire is disgusting.

Keen to hear others thoughts on this. Surely there are still a few of us willing to support the team

As annoyed as I am about the current predicament I think sacking the coach after 3 games is a ridiculous sweeping change with no thought type of suggestion. Won't say it again after this but after a big outlay on membership fees, to basically throw the baby out with the bathwater when just over 2 weeks ago we hadn't even played a game yet feels like a complete waste. When was the last time a team replaced the coach at Rd 3 and went on to do great things for the season? Especially in this day and age?

Whether we pull the coach now or mid year won’t make a lick of a difference. Worst case scenario the season is a write off, best case we win some games and get back into the mix somehow. I respect the Deebrief guys but honestly Adam Simpson who I do rate might be the worst suggestion for an alternative. Boy oh boy, why bring in a premiership winning system based coach that never swings the magnets when we already have one? This will not ease frustration and he's not going to be able to implement a weagle's web or whatever before the season is out. Ridiculous.

The Viney and T-mac bashing is something I turn away from. In particular Viney. I see the frustration but they all sung his praises up on the Gold Coast last year and couldn't bear the thought of North getting their mits on him, some are even the same people that think it was now a mistake.

Edited March 31Mar 31 by layzie